Social Media and Divorce

Explained by a Jacksonville Divorce Attorney

In recent years, social media has affected marriages and divorces across
the country on many levels. Whether or not your divorce was caused by
social media, if you subscribe to Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, or Myspace,
or use other forms of electronic communications, you should know how to
conduct yourself during the divorce process.

As a
Jacksonville divorce lawyer and founder of Charles E. Willmott, P.A., I have nearly 25 years of experience
handling collaborative and uncontested divorce cases. I am a Board Certified
divorce attorney and well-aware of how social media outlets can lead to
and impact
divorce proceedings.

How Social Media Can Affect Your Divorce Case

We cannot ignore the fact that Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Instagram, LinkedIn,
and other social networking websites have become key components in how
we interact in today's culture. When something happens to us, we want
our friends to know about it. We share what happens in our careers, we
share photos when we travel, and we share triumphs, tragedies, laughs
and tears, and a plethora of pictures.

When one is getting a divorce, they often post updates and pics without
thinking about the consequences. You have to remember that not every friend
is a "friend," and not every connection is an ally. Sometimes
an email, message or text that you thought was private, is anything but.

In general, married couples have dozens of mutual friends and connections.
When a marriage breaks up, some of these people side with one spouse over
the other. Divorcing couples can easily obtain a steady stream of information
about an estranged spouse's financial activities as it is relayed through
a "mutual friend" on Facebook.

Even if your ex has blocked you from Facebook, your mutual friends can
still tell you about your ex's trip to Hawaii a week after they told the
court they were broke. Social media can be a sign that your spouse is
hiding assets in a divorce, and sometimes emails, texts and activity on
social media websites can be subpoenaed and gone through with a fine tooth comb.

Prudent Advice to Someone Getting a Divorce

When getting a divorce, it is important not to put anything in an email,
a text message, or online
anywhere that you don't want to become public information or you don't want a judge
to see or read. In the context of a divorce, if either party has shared
information digitally that could contradict information they conveyed
in person or in their financial documents, they can be leaving a huge
trail of evidence that can be hard to explain away.

As a general rule, you want to view all electronic communications and social
media activity as public and permanent. In divorce social media can provide
useful information about your spouse, especially if it contradicts what
he or she has said in their legal documents, but remember, your spouse
is hearing the same exact thing from their divorce attorney.

If you use social media, you need to exercise caution, discretion and judgment.
You may be better off if you log off of Facebook, quit Tweeting, and don't
sign up for Google Plus during your divorce proceedings.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

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